Fourth Generation (4G) wireless networks support large numbers of wireless subscribers. The wireless subscribers may utilize various services and application having associated traffic that is packetized and transported via Internet Protocol (IP) networks having many network elements using different transport technologies and applied quality-of-service (QoS) policies. Such wireless networks are inherently complex and present new challenges to network service providers and the network management tools relied upon by the network service providers to ensure consistent delivery of high-quality services to the wireless subscribers.
Existing network management systems used within the context of, illustratively, network operations centers (NOCs) provide a visualization of a deployed communication network that can be graphically manipulated by the user to provide various management functions. However, while useful, existing network management systems typically require significant human knowledge of the network topology and likely sources of failure or operational degradation. Specifically, presented with an undesired operational mode, a skilled operator in the NOC may understand what type of elements or sub-elements within the network are likely the cause of the failure or undesired operational mode and, thus, can then address the failure or the undesired operational mode.
Unfortunately, few have the necessary knowledge or skills for this task. Further, it is seen to be desirable to assist operators in some tasks, as well as to automatically perform other tasks where practicable.